Veganomicon (& my sweet potato home fries recipe)

Ok-so tonight I made the Veganomicon black bean-vegetable soup! Soooo freaking delish! And let me tell you, I have had NO luck till now with vegan black bean soup. It always wanted chicken stock or sour cream or something else. Or it was too spicy! This recipe is perfection! Please buy Veganomicon right this minute! You won't be sorry. Every recipe I've ever made is amazing! And tonight I fed it to 4 carnivores, who LOVED it! I served mine with cilantro, avocado, lime and brown rice.

I also made one of my own recipes:

Sweet potato home fries

Peel several sweet potatoes
Chop into large chunks
Drizzle with grapeseed oil, or your favorite. I like grape because it is so mild and allows the flavor of the potatoes to really shine.
Toss with garlic, pressed, sea salt, and pepper!
Bake at 400 for 20 minutes. Toss and bake another 20 or so.
Ta Da!!! Super yum!!! I baked 10 potatoes for 9 people tonight.... There are no leftovers! Bummer... I even had to tell the 14 year old, hey leave some for everyone else! Because he tried to take half of the pan before anyone else had a chance.

Not So Pretty, But sooooo Yummy!

My first time making home made pasta! It's so freakin good, I will never want to buy boxes of hard pasta again. Kids and hubby agree.... Uh oh... There will be dinner anarchy if I buy boxes of pasta again.

First: I made my dough in a Bosch mixer. If you want to make dough, it's really the only way to go. Add water to the bowl about 1/4 of the way up.
Add a little salt. Add a couple of scoops of flour. Turn on the mixer.

Second: carefully continue to add flour till  the sides of the bowl start to come clean.
The amount varies according to weather. Then allow the dough to knead for about five minutes.

Third: allow the dough to rest for a few minutes on the counter.
Break into workable hunks, and put on a floured surface.

Fourth: using a rolling pin, roll the dough flat, adding flour as needed.
ImPORTANt: allow dough to rest about 30 seconds between rolling. This allows the gluten to form. You can then roll it as thin as you wish. Resting between each pass or two of the roller.

Fifth: sprinkle with flour, and roll jelly roll style. Use a knife to cut thru all layers. Line up the kitchen slaves, I mean helpers,  and start unrolling!

Have a large pot of boiling water at the ready. Plop in the noodles and stir immediately to prevent clumping. They will cook quickly. Test for doneness. Cook in batches.

Top with whatever you have handy!

My favorite sauce version is: 2 qts home canned romas, garlic, onion, red wine, baby bellas, braggs liquid aminos, and fresh basil thrown on top at the very end.... o man that is one ugly pictue, BUT YUMMY!!!! the 14 year old had four servings.....

Vegan egg replacers: egg replacement in baking

Vegan egg replacers: egg replacement in baking

Here is a link to an article about how different egg replacers work in different baked goods: hello, useful!!!
I've definately used some of these before, however, in an effort to stop buying things in boxes, I googled DIY ener-g egg replacer.

Soups On!!!

Curried Lentil, white bean and Cauliflower Soup
A super healthy soup that is very soul satisfying and tummy filling. The fam loves it. And I feel good feeding it to them.


1 large onion, chopped
4 to 6 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup brown or green lentils, rinsed
4 large celery stalks, diced
3 to 4 cloves garlic, minced 
2 bay leaves
2 cups white beans or white potatoes
One 16-ounce can salt-free diced tomatoes, undrained
2 teaspoons good quality curry powder, or to taste 
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric(optional)
Pinch of nutmeg
2 1/2 cups finely chopped cauliflower pieces
2 cups finely chopped fresh spinach leaves
2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro(optional)
Juice of 1/2 lemon or 1 lime!
 freshly ground pepper to taste

Heat a soup pot with a little broth or water. Add the onion and sauté over medium-low heat until translucent. Add the garlic and continue to sauté until both are golden.

Add the lentils, celery, garlic, and bay leaves. Cover with 6 cups water. Bring to a rapid simmer, then lower the heat. Cover and simmer gently for 10 minutes.

Add the beans, tomatoes, and curry powder, and simmer about 10 to 15 minutes. Add the cauliflower and simmer until the lentils and vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes longer.

Stir in the spinach, cilantro, and lemon juice. Adjust the consistency with more water as needed, then season with pepper. Simmer over very low heat for another 5 minutes. Serve at once or let stand for an hour before serving, then heat through as needed.

All Gone Granola Bars

Here it is! My vegan altered recipe for granola bars!!! Hooray!!!
As you will see by the photo, I double this recipe, and my five children and hubby demolish the pan in no time at all! They really are that yummy, and not
super sticky sweet. And my kids do not feel so left out walking by all the prepackaged junk in the grocery store. These taste better than that, anyway- so my 99 percent vegan children inform me!

All Gone Granola Bars

Ingredients
2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 cup raw sunflower seeds
1 cup coarsely chopped almonds
1/2 cup wheat germ
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/2 cup brown rice syrup
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon coconut oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 1/2 cups dried fruit, cranberries, chopped dates, and raisins
Directions
Grease a 9 by 9-inch glass or stone baking dish and set aside. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Spread the oats, sunflower seeds, almonds, cinnamon and wheat germ onto a half-sheet pan. Place in the oven and toast for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
In the meantime, combine the brown rice syrup, brown sugar, coconut oil, vanilla extract and salt in a medium saucepan and place over medium heat. Cook until the brown sugar has completely dissolved.
Once the oat mixture is done, remove it from the oven and reduce the heat to 300 degrees F. Immediately add the oat mixture to the liquid mixture, add the dried fruit, and stir to combine. Turn mixture out into the prepared baking dish and press down, evenly distributing the mixture in the dish and place in the oven to bake for 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely. Cut into squares and store in an airtight container for up to a week... If they last through the day!!!!!!

Why Don't You Try-O Some Pico de Gall-O!

My only reason for living: pico de gallo.
Two versions, no measurements.
The first is called:
Hurry up with the pico, man, the movie is already starting!!!
(for this version, just chuck it all in the blender)
The second is called:
Proper Pico for company
(for this version chop everything into cute little cubes, and let sit in the fridge for a little bit)

The only difference is VERY important....
USE ONLY HALF THE ONION in version one!

So...
Here are the ingredients, the amounts are purely personal!
However, I will put the values that I typically use for a large bowl.

1 bag of Roma tomatoes
1 bunch of cilantro, rinsed very well and chopped
6-10 cloves of garlic, diced super fine
1 small lemon, juiced
1 serano pepper, diced super fine
1 small yellow onion, diced super fine (use half of the onion for the blender version)
1/2 tsp salt, or to taste

Adjust any and all of these ingredients according to your personal preferences!
Everyone I've ever made this for, loves it. I even keep some aside, without seranos, for my sister in law...she says it's good...but...why?

Words to the song by Trout fishing in America

Chorus:
Pico de gallo, you oughta give it a try-o
Even if you're from Ohio, it'll get you by-o.
don't get it in your eye-o unless you want to cry-o
So come on, don't be shy-o, eat some pico de gallo!

It's got jalapenos, I reckon y'all have seen those.
They're kinda hot for gringos and probably flamingos.
Just add some tomatillos, onions and cilantro,
Lime juice and tomato, you got pico de gallo!

Chorus


It was Cinco de Mayo, and I was down on the bayou
With my good friend Venus de Milo,
We were watchin' Hawaii Five-O
She wanted some French fry-o's, or maybe apple pie-o
And I said why, oh, why-o? We got pico de gallo!

Pico de gallo, you oughta give it a try-o
Even if you're from Ontari-i-o, it'll get you by-o.
don't get it in your eye-o unless you want to cry-o
So come on, don't be shy-o, eat some pico de gallo!
So come on, don't be shy-o, eat some pico de gallo!

Monkey Flip

When I was in high school, I worked at a health food shop called Hercules Flip. I was a smoothie barista. My favorite smoothie was the Monkey Flip.... I've simplified it since then....but it is just as yummy!

Monkey Flip

1 c vanilla soy milk
1 c water
1/2 c peanut butter (the just peanuts kind, no salt, tastes the best)
2 frozen bananas

Put the liquid and peanut butter in first
Give it a whirl
Then put in the bananas one at a time
Blend till smooth! Yummmm

And this is for my no bananas hubby:

Fruit Smoothie
add:
1 c soy milk
1 c water

Blend

Add one at a time, blending after each addition:

1/2 c of each: frozen blueberries, frozen peaches, frozen strawberries.

Teriyaki Tofu

Baked tofu takes for freakin' ever, if you do it right.... and I just love torturing my kids all day with teriyaki tofu.  Mom! what are you cooking? when can we eat, already? he he he.... the trick to getting kids (even the non-vegan cousins) to eating tofu is in the baking. And of course my uncle's secret recipe for teriyaki sauce, from Hawaii, so ono!

yummy secret teriyaki sauce

1 c shoyu (soy sauce, low sodium, tamari, or braggs liquid amimos are okay)
1 c water
1/2 c sesame oil (or less, if you are watching your waistline)
1 slice raw ginger (or 1/2 tsp powdered ginger)
1/2 c brown sugar (or some other sweetener)
4 cloves garlic, minced
toasted sesame seeds

Mix this all together.

If you are using this as a sauce, just bring it to a boil in a sauce pan, turn it down and simmer for 15 minutes. Pour over rice and veggies!

If you are using it to make baked tofu then just mix this right in a 9x13" pan.
Press your tofu between some clean dishcloths with some heavy books on top, for like, an hour.
Then slice into 1/2 inch slices(about) and lay your tofu in the pan.
Flip it, so that there is teriyaki sauce on both sides, then sprinkle with more toasted sesame seeds.
Let it cook for an hour, 300 degree oven.
Then flip and cook for another hour. 
If they start to get too dark, turn down your oven to 275.
Then slice up into little cubes and thow on top of steamed veggies and brown rice.
Or let cool and put inside of a pita with avocado, alfalfa sprouts, red onion slices, hot mustard, YUM!

What's for dinner mom?

The most dreaded four words in the English language...before our family became Vegan! Now, although I am still not a big fan of weekly menus, in narrowing down our choices in the pantry, I have opened up a wealth of freedom in the kitchen. It sounds backwards, I know. But I like to think of it like following the laws of the land, do so and you may enjoy all of the freedoms this still great country has to offer. Disobey them and eventually have your choices confined to a jail cell, or worse.
Before we became vegan, I would almost pay my children to tell me what they wanted for dinner, within reason. Those days are long gone, and good riddance! My new routine is to look in the pantry and fridge, see what veggies need to be eaten, and make dinner!
Tonight I saw carrots, broccoli, and cauliflower. Originally, at the grocery store, I picked up the cauliflower per my sons request for this yummy soup:

Curried Lentil, white bean and Cauliflower Soup



1 large onion, chopped
4 to 6 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup brown or green lentils, rinsed
1 large celery stalk, diced
3 to 4 cloves garlic, minced 
2 bay leaves
2 cups white beans
One 16-ounce can salt-free diced tomatoes, undrained
2 teaspoons good quality curry powder, or to taste 
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric(optional)
Pinch of nutmeg
2 1/2 cups finely chopped cauliflower pieces
2 cups finely chopped fresh spinach leaves
2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro(optional)
Juice of 1/2 lemon or 1 lime!
 freshly ground pepper to taste

Heat a soup pot with a little broth or water. Add the onion and sauté over medium-low heat until translucent. Add the garlic and continue to sauté until both are golden.

Add the lentils, celery, garlic, and bay leaves. Cover with 6 cups water. Bring to a rapid simmer, then lower the heat. Cover and simmer gently for 10 minutes.

Add the beans, tomatoes, and curry powder, and simmer about 10 to 15 minutes. Add the cauliflower and simmer until the lentils and vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes longer.

Stir in the spinach, cilantro, and lemon juice. Adjust the consistency with more water as needed, then season with pepper. Simmer over very low heat for another 5 minutes. Serve at once or let stand for an hour before serving, then heat through as needed.

Well, that soup never got made..so instead I cooked some brownrice in the rice cooker, added some garlic, Braggs liquid aminos, sauted onions, ginger, and Voila! Dinner was scarfed down by all five kids! Then they danced around the table singing, mom is great! She feeds us everyday! *big sigh* just kidding! But the 14 year old did have four helpings! As well as the 5 year old. And then we put on my iPhone playlist "dancing in the kitchen music" and washed up dishes and counters together.
My new favorite song on that mix:
New Soul by Yael Naim

Vegan in Houston

The people in Houston are so friendly. Someone told me it's called hospitality. Boy the rest of the USA could use more of this... Of course, maybe they just can't help being nice because of all the lovely sunshine. Since we moved here about six weeks ago, we've been on a mission to find vegan ingredients for all of my favorite recipes. Although we have found many things locally, we will probably end up using mail order more than we did in Washington. One new, super cool item I found out about while eating dinner at a fellow vegan's home: CHIA seeds! Like the kind you make chia pets with. They are an amazing little thing. Crunchy and fun to eat. Add them to anything from veggie burgers to oatmeal. They are also supposed to help with weight loss because they absorb water and create a feeling of satiety. You can find them online. Speaking of hospitality, that's how I found out about chia seeds. On only our second week in Houston we were connected with the one other vegan everyone knows here and they invited us over for a potluck. So brave of someone to invite over a family of seven.

Burgers!

The thing I LOVE about veggie burgers is the creativity! Don't you? I mean what other dish can you make that always turn out great, the kids love to eat, and you can use up all the leftover little bits of things in the fridge? Which is exactly what I did. Veggie burgers were one of the things I used to seduce my children over to their 'mostly vegan' existence. The ones I made tonight are my favorite mix so far. Unfortunately, I never measure anything. BUT, a book I recently read called "School of Essential Ingredients" backed me and my anti-measuring ways up, by saying, really good cooks never measure. I don't even measure my bread ingredients anymore, and it always turns out the same. Which is wierd, because when I used to measure my bread ingredients, it turned out different every time. There's something about feeling and cooking that is so very integral. We ate the burgers with salad and corn tortillas. Here's what I used:
Half of a large onion, chopped very fine in food processor
2 cups walnuts, ground fine
5-8 cloves of garlic, chopped fine
Put the garlic in a warm pan and toast then add the walnuts and toast, then add the onions and cook till done
Next, add two cups of white beans, blended in food processor
4 Tablespoons ground flax seeds, let sit in half a cup of water for a few minutes
A few cups of cooked brown rice 2-3
2 cups of oatmeal, finely ground
Curry powder, chili powder, and smoked paprika to taste
1 can tomato Paste
Mash everything together and scoop using a large cookie scoop onto a hot griddle sprayed with Pam . Get your fingers wet and smoosh them down into a pattie shape. Cook both sides till done. My kids like them crunchy on the outside.
Seriously, though, make up your own recipe with whatever you have in the fridge and pantry!

Favorite Tomato Soup

I have a confession to make.... I've always hated tomato soup. So when I heard about this recipe from a couple of friends who loved it, I said,"that's nice" and never thought about it again. Until I was at my friends house for dinner and tomato soup was what she made. Well. I took a small bowl and tasted it. Boy, was I surprised. Next I was begging her for the recipe. Of course she didn't have the book anymore, her friend had it. So she gave me the general idea, and I went home and made it again that week... Later I found the actual recipe, but it turns out that my kids like my version better(of course!) The best thing about this soup- besides being super healthy, and kid friendly- is that it takes like 5 minutes or less to make! We just had it tonight and the kids all had seconds or thirds! What good little 'mostly-vegans'. I served it with salad and rosemary garlic whole wheat rolls. Once I even made this with fresh tomatoes, skins and all! Fat free(except for whatever is in garbanzo beans) and salt free (especially if you soak your own garbanzo beans and get salt free tomatoes)

My Favorite Tomato Soup- this recipe is easily doubled or tripled

2 cups chickpea(seriously, these are so much cheaper if you buy them dry, soak them overnight and cook in a pressure cooker, or on the stove top)
2 garlic cloves
1 16 ounce jar tomatoes(I use my home canned tomatoes, so just find something equivalent)
1 tsp cumin
2 Tbl lemon juice
1 cup soy milk
1 cup vegetable broth(I make my own-super easy to do)
Or 1 cup water.

Blend it all in a blender till smooth, then heat through! I think ts better when made the day before. Stores well for about three days.


Blend all except cilantro
Heat on stove
Yummmmmy!

beans, beans, beans

So, I've finally broken down and tried out the frightening pressure cooker.  Just the whole idea of cooking something under pressure just seems frightening to me. But I found a great pressure cooker that is so easy to use and sits on an induction cooker, also so easy to use, that I have gotten over my fears of explosions in the kitchen.....its a Duramatic pressure cooker used on a Mr Induction induction cooktop.  Anyway, I have found that the great thing about cooking beans in the pressure cooker is this: they absorb the flavor of other things that you cook them with.  In my quest for healthy vegan eating I have stopped adding salt to our food (ala Dr. Fuhrman's Eat For Health) and found out immediately that beans sans salt are BLAH! So I've been experimenting with ways to add some flavor and interest to my daily bean intake.  Here is the so simple solution:
Add a jalepeno to the water you are cooking your beans in. 
Simply just put the soaked beans in the pressure cooker,
Cover with water according to directions,
Take a jalepeno and put some slits in the sides,
and chuck it in with the beans!
tada!
great tasting beans!

Soul food

My super good friend and I love to check out vegan recipe books from the library. When I go to her house and I see a new recipe book sitting on the couch, I'm like, soooo, is it any good???? Well, one night we decided that there is a theme so far to the books that we love and put on our 'need-to-get-this-one' list. And the theme is this: women authors (sorry dudes). There is just something about the recipes of women authors that is just different. The descriptions and lists of ingredients have soul. There is something about a great recipe that just pulls you in and starts to make you salivate. You just can't wait to start making it! I would love it if you would join me on my soul searching journey.